There were lots of innovations from France in the late 18th century. With help from Jean-Baptiste de Belloy, the Archbishop of Paris, the idea that coffee should not be boiled gained acceptance. The first modern method for making coffee using a coffee filter—drip brewing—is more than 125 years old, and its design had changed little. The biggin, originating in France ca. 1780, was a two-level pot holding coffee in a cloth sock in an upper compartment into which water was poured, to drain through holes in the bottom of the compartment into the coffee pot below. Coffee was then dispensed from a spout on the side of the pot. The quality of the brewed coffee depended on the size of the grounds - too coarse and the coffee was weak; too fine and the water would not drip the filter. A major problem with this approach was that the taste of the cloth filter - whether cotton, burlap or an old sock - transferred to the taste of the coffee. Around the same time, a French inventor developed the "pumping percolator", in which boiling water in a bottom chamber forces itself up a tube and then trickles (percolates) through the ground coffee back into the bottom chamber. Among other French innovations, Count Rumford, an eccentric American scientist residing in Paris, developed a French Drip Pot with an insulating water jacket to keep the coffee hot. Also, the first metal filter was developed and patented by French inventor.

For example, if your coffee tastes a bit salty or sour, the grounds are under-extracted, which can be remedied by a finer grind. But what if only some of your grounds are too coarse, and others are too fine – and maybe some are just right? Having uniform grind size throughout your brew basket makes it easier to isolate and adjust this variable in order to get the level of extraction you want. The only way to achieve that is with a burr grinder. Miller — as well as a handful of our other experts — recommends the Barazata Encore Coffee Grinder ($129).
The simplicity starts with its design: a single button with a scrolling dial underneath an LED interface. That button is the only one on the entire machine. With it, you set the time, set the water temperature, set how many cups you want brewed, and when you want the brewing to start. It takes a second to get the hang of it, but we were impressed with how intuitive it is — a stark contrast to a machine like the Moccamaster KBT 10-Cup Coffee Brewer, which had so many extra pieces, it required constant consultation of the instruction manual.
The illy name is most often associated with their coffee, but they also make capsule-style machines for convenient home brewing. This model takes less space than the similar Y3 model, but still has features that coffee lovers look for. It brews standard drip coffee, and it makes espresso with 19 bars of pressure. No matter what you’re brewing, you can choose your brew strength, water temperature, and cup size, for the perfect cup every time.
CR’s take: This unassuming, inexpensive Hamilton Beach coffee maker might be easy to miss, but it can brew a mean cup of joe at a fantastic price. In a basic black-plastic finish, it has the essentials—it’s programmable and offers auto-shutoff—and it offers solid brew performance in a decent time frame (10 minutes). Hamilton Beach machines even earned a Very Good rating for predicted reliability. At around $25, this simple model will get the job done.
This K-Elite Single-Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker blend premium finish and programmable features together to deliver both modern design and the ultimate in beverage customization. It’s a stylish addition to any kitchen. Features strong brew setting when you want to brew a bolder cup of coffee, and an ice setting to brew hot over ice for a refreshing, full-flavored ice coffee.
A Bosch coffee brewmaster celebrates the preparation of coffee. They operate their coffee machine with absolute confidence, and every step in the procedure is precise down to the last detail. Thanks to the innovative technology in the new Bosch Built-In Coffee Machine, with Home Connect, it’s easy to become a coffee Brewmaster. Whether you are preparing a frothy latte macchiato for one, or a variety of beverages while entertaining a group, creating delicious espresso and coffee beverages is now easier than ever before.
†Programmable Brew Time: Conventional wisdom frowns at grinding beans early and programming a pot to brew later. The aromatic compounds in coffee beans start to oxidize as quickly as 15 minutes after grinding, which causes coffee to start losing aroma and flavor. But Michael Ebert, senior consultant at Firedancer Coffee Consultants, LLC, assured us that, given the trade-offs for convenience, “grinding the night before will still make a great coffee — just not as great as it could be.” Seven of the 10 pots we tested are programmable, including three of our top picks (all but the Bonavita).

The Bonavita Coffee Brewer performs stellar when it comes to coffee drip brewing, easily outpacing more expensive coffee makers. It'll take about six minutes to create 44 ounces of coffee. Brisk brewing has caught the attention of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, since it's threshold for recognition is a brewing time of fewer than eight minutes.

Programmable coffee makers exist to make the brewing process as painless as possible. Outside of maybe grinding your coffee beans, the drip coffee system will use optimal water temperatures of around 205 degrees Fahrenheit or 96.11 degrees Celsius for maximum extraction of the ground coffee beans. The best automatic coffee maker will seamlessly reach this temperature within minutes of the brewing process.

“Last night was a perfect test of the single-cup concept. I had already programmed and prepped my 3 a.m. standard coffee brew, however, I still wanted a cup of coffee. I switched over to the single cup and brewed my cup, then switched back and pressed the program button to ensure it would still brew the main pot at 3 a.m. Worked like a charm!! Before, I would have had to brew the entire eight cups that were ready, toss out most of it, and set up my morning brew all over again.”

“This is the same coffee maker that I bought years ago. And it’s even the same price. Yep — they do still make things like they used to. And they last forever. It’s super simple, super reliable, compact, and cheap. There are a lot of places where we can spend money, but a simple cup of coffee doesn’t have to be one of them. Once you get the amount of water and coffee figured out to your taste — simply do that. No K-cup, nothing to recycle, fits the car cup holder. And the coffee stays hot in the mug.”

Pierce's design was later improved by U.S. appliance engineers Ivar Jepson, Ludvik Koci, and Eric Bylund of Sunbeam in the late 1930s. They altered the heating chamber and eliminated the recessed well which was hard to clean. They also made several improvements to the filtering mechanism. Their improved design of plated metals, styled by industrial designer Alfonso Iannelli, became the famous Sunbeam Coffeemaster line of automated vacuum coffee makers (Models C-20, C-30, C40, and C-50). The Coffeemaster vacuum brewer was sold in large numbers in the United States during the years immediately following World War I.

Access the world of coffee for inspiration. The De’Longhi combination coffee espresso machine allows you to use either coffee pods for a speedy messfree espresso, or freshly ground beans if you prefer your coffee brewed the traditional way. Espresso is delivered straight to the cup in seconds, perfect every time. The distinct sign of an ideal espresso is its ‘crema’, a creamy, toffee-colored layer that seals in flavor. Your De’Longhi espresso machine will deliver a crema that reflects the quality of the espresso, and the machine that made it. Fancy topping your espresso with a sweet milk foam? It’s easy to brew creamy lattes and velvety cappuccinos too, thanks to our patented cappuccino system frothers.
The illy name is most often associated with their coffee, but they also make capsule-style machines for convenient home brewing. This model takes less space than the similar Y3 model, but still has features that coffee lovers look for. It brews standard drip coffee, and it makes espresso with 19 bars of pressure. No matter what you’re brewing, you can choose your brew strength, water temperature, and cup size, for the perfect cup every time.
When you’re looking for an espresso maker, you have a few different options. Electric espresso makers are popular choices, and they make creating your own espresso drinks quick and easy. This type of machine feeds pressurized water through a series of tubes in the device, heats it up and then feeds it through compacted grounds. Most electric espresso machines include milk frothing wands, which use steam to create delicious foamy milk or cream that’s ideal for cappuccinos or lattes. Many machines are fully automatic, so there isn’t much of a learning curve involved. A few even include built-in coffee mills, offering fresh coffee with zero effort.

Enjoy a cup of instant coffee with the Bodum Columbia Double Wall Stainless Steel French Press Coffee Maker. This coffee maker includes a French press & Bodum coffee scoop. It is available in multiple sizes allowing you to choose the one best suited to your preference. This coffee maker is made from premium quality stainless steel, nylon, silicone, and plastic, which ensures that it is sturdy and durable. This coffee maker is part of the Columbia collection, and sports a silver finish that is...

If you’re shopping for coffee at the grocery store, “check the roast date, rather than the ‘best by’ date,” says Awan. With mass market roasters, the “best by” date can obfuscate the window in which coffee beans are at their best: about 4 days after roasting, when some, but not all, of the carbon dioxide has escaped from the beans. (Too much carbon dioxide captured within beans tends to create uneven extraction, as the gas escapes — this is what pre-infusing tries to counter. Conversely, too little carbon dioxide in the bean can lead to a loss of flavor.)

If you're highly particular about how your coffee tastes, you'll want the Behmor Brazen Plus. It was the only drip machine we tested that brewed at the optimal temperature to bring out the best flavor from coffee beans. Getting this perfect brew takes a little more time to set up than most coffee makers require— before starting, you have to calibrate it for the altitude in your area— but overall it's easy to use.

It also automatically pre-infuses the coffee, allowing the grounds to vent their CO2 and “bloom.” Remember, only half of the machines we tested had this feature, and it proved to pay off in our taste tests. The four machines we recommend all pre-infuse. Only one coffee maker without it, the Hamilton Beach, performed well at all in our taste tests — but that guy was so cheap and flimsy, part of the brew basket broke during our testing. Sorry, Hamilton Beach.

It’s obvious, but easy to forget: If you don’t clean out your coffee machine’s carafe after each use with soap and water, you’ll always end up tasting a little bit of yesterday’s now-bitter brew. Thermal carafes need to be hand-washed, but all the plastic components of our top picks — brew baskets, lids, etc. — are dishwasher-safe if you keep them on the top rack.
Treat yourself to a new coffee maker from our selection at Williams Sonoma and get those mornings off to a brighter start. Choose from ultra machines for the office to low-tech coffee makers for camp and off-grid activities. Coffee machines are available with and without a coffee mill so you can choose to have the convenience of grinding your beans right where you brew your favorite beverages. Deluxe coffee centers allow you to make coffee, espresso, cappuccino and other coffee-based beverages including latte, pepresso, and Irish coffee. Several versions of coffee-espresso makers include milk foaming technology for creamy toppings on your mochas and macchiatos. Deluxe coffee makers and machines are superb additions to galleries, offices, club meeting spaces and anywhere you need to make a lot of coffee fast.